Two major construction projects, totaling more than $50 million, are set to begin along Hwy. 87 South next year. An additional span across Yellow River Bridge and the expansion of a two-lane section of the roadway to four lanes, from Holley to 2 miles south of the bridge is planned.
More than 80 people attended a special county commission meeting held Monday evening to discuss sites for the proposed new courthouse. County officials lined up state and local agency representatives to address issues related to potential East Milton sites – one of which is planned to be placed on this year’s ballot. Residents also got to speak out at the end of the meeting.
Assistant State Attorney Stephanie G. Pace saw two child sexual offenders in high-profile cases that she prosecuted get lengthy sentences last week. Donzell Nuckles received a 330-year sentence April 15, and the next day Ernest Parker was sentenced to 25 years in state prison.
The hunt has already begun to replace County Attorney Angie Jones, who informed commissioners at their April 21 meeting that she was resigning. Scrutiny of Jones intensified after a lawsuit involving the pier management contract last year and threats of a lawsuit after what Santa Rosa County Tax Collector Stan Colie Nichols called “bad advice” from Jones this year.
A 36-year-old woman was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by 15 years of sex offender probation for having sex with a 14-year-old boy in Navarre in 2013. Santa Rosa Circuit Judge John Simon sentenced Susanne Daubert Rheam of Pensacola April 16.
A local woman, 41-year-old Toni Phelps, was sentenced April 16 to 12 months behind bars and 10 years probation for crimes resulting in the death of three dogs and three cats in her Navarre home in 2012. According to State Attorney Bill Eddins, Phelps entered a plea Feb. 17, 2014, to six counts of Animal Cruelty, six counts of Depriving an Animal of Food or Water and Public Nuisance.
Santa Rosa Circuit Court Judge John L. Miller April 15 sentenced 29-year-old Devon Deshane Washington of Milton to 20 years in prison from charges stemming from a June 2013 burglary.
Circuit Judge John Simon April 16 sentenced 38-year-old Ryan Foy Carter of Gulf Breeze to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years of probation for one count of leaving the scene of a crash involving a death. According to State Attorney Bill Eddins office, Carter pleaded no contest to the charge Feb. 10, 2014.
A Navarre resident who did about half of his training on an oil producing platform in the Gulf of Mexico was the top local finisher in the 2014 Boston Marathon April 21. According to the Boston Athletic Association’s website, 40-year-old Clayton Honaker finished the race in 3:10:13 finishing 4,188 overall out of about 36,000 runners.
The Holley-Navarre Water System Board voted April 15 to reduce the tap fees for a new hibachi restaurant opening up in the site of the former Hancock Bank on Navarre Parkway.
